Facing fears...

Terror? HERE'S terror: engine trouble! 

OK, so I've had times sailing when I actually shook with fear... like at night, wondering if the weather “disturbance” had risen to a tropical storm and would drag me and my anchor onto a rocky shore with 6' waves... or when I faced a line of thunderstorms at midnight and tried to figure out my best route through them. Mostly, I think we fear the unknown, the thing we haven't faced before and aren't sure how to address. Now I know that my best option when I fear dragging is a second anchor and a location pin on the map and my best option in an impending night storm is reduced sail and a notepad with the heading to various storm cells to see if I am going into them or avoiding them. 

Now I'm facing a great fear and something I generally detest: engine work. Why do I dislike it? Well, engines epitomize much I dislike: they are noisy, smelly, polluting, dirty, complex, and expensive. Figuring out where the oil or fuel is leaking, how often to change the raw water impeller, where to find the sacrificial zinc, how to change the coolant, how to repair the alternator, how to even get TO the bolts on the fuel injector pump, how to prevent dust and rust and paint flecks from getting into the injectors.... UGH! 

This is all especially fraught since I have not dealt with most of these issues. SO! I have been trying to fix the fuel leak on my injector pump. In order to even get at this leak, I need to remove the exhaust header, starter, oil pressure sensor, the steel fuel lines, and the thermostat housing.

I had to grind down a wrench to reach a very inaccessible nut.

Taking this all apart and reinstalling it required three days: sometimes I'd wake at midnight, unable to sleep, and put in a few hours on it. FINALLY, I got it all back together... and the engine ran far worse and smoked,

the coolant leaked very badly, the salt water pump leaked badly from the pump shaft, the oil pressure gauge went nuts.... and fuel still leaked. 

UTTER DEFEAT! Is it time to abandon this fricking boat? Hire someone? Go 100% electric? UGH! Despair! Despondency!

Still.... More research and some scraping away paint to find the hairline timing marks helped me get the engine running well and stopped the smoking. This makes me SO happy! And it looks as though the fuel leak is a new one and easy to fix. Advice from my friend Asa helped me figure out my electrical issues:  the oil pressure sender is probably OK, so I can just get a new meter from West Marine. And I think I know how to seal the thermostat housing well this time and should replace the thermostat anyway. Not so bad, then: action, progress, success...

Today I'll remove the header again and see about installing the new “olives” that should stop the fuel leak,

a little work tomorrow should handle the thermostat & housing, Tomorrow I'll walk to the auto supply to get a thermostat and to West Marine to get a new oil pressure gauge (chilly day: good for Monty to go walking) and install those... I've gotten through the fear and loathing and into the calm waters of some knowledge and competency. What a relief!

And, of course, Monty has been walking an hour or two each day, some folks visited with their beautiful homemade dinghy,

and we often have wonderful sunrises..